


I Need You To Be My Boyfriend

by LonelyThursday



Series: Dating Tropes [2]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friends, Dating Tropes, Established Relationship, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Siblings, Weddings, adopted family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 03:26:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21047513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyThursday/pseuds/LonelyThursday
Summary: Crutchie's ex is going to be at Blush's wedding, so he does what anyone in a fanfic would do: he brings a fake boyfriendAlso known as: Crutchie And Jojo Are Absolute BestiesSecond part of Dating TropesCan be read as a stand-alone





	I Need You To Be My Boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this fic sitting around for a while, but I didn't like it so I didn't post it. Last night I managed to overhaul the whole thing and now it's longer and it brings me joy

“Jojo!” 

Jojo doesn’t bother looking up from his book as his best friend launches himself onto the bed, his only reaction is to whisper “ow” after Crutchie accidentally hits him in the shin with one of his crutches. 

“Sorry.” Crutchie mutters as he slips his elbow crutches off and leans them against the nightstand. He then proceeds to wiggle around until he finds a comfortable position; on his side facing Jojo. Jojo continues to stare at his book, though he’s not reading it anymore. 

Crutchie stares at Jojo silently and Jojo knows that he’s waiting to be asked what’s wrong, but two can play at that game. They sit in silence for almost three minutes - three minutes of Crutchie staring at Jojo while Jojo stares at the same paragraph in his book - before Jojo finally breaks. 

“What’s wrong?” Jojo sighs, Crutchie grins at his victory. 

“I need you to be my boyfriend.” Ok, Jojo was  _ not _ expecting that

_ “What!?”  _ Jojo squawks, finally setting his book down in order to stare incredulously at his friend.

“Not like that,” Crutchie rolls his eyes. “I need you to  _ pretend _ to be my boyfriend.”

“I feel like you could have started with that.” Jojo mutters before perking up. “Of course I’ll be your fake boyfriend, Crutch! What are friends for? What’s the occasion?”

“Well, ya know Mush and Blink’s wedding is coming up, and the Delancey brothers are Blink’s cousins…”

Crutchie trails off, but Jojo knows the point he’s trying to make. Crutchie had dated Oscar Delancey briefly in high school, it hadn’t ended well, suffice to say, the Delancey brothers are giant assholes. 

“Got it! I’m totally down.” Jojo grins, Crutchie’s his best friend and if he wants a date to this wedding, then Jojo will be his date to this wedding. 

“Thanks Jojo, if you ever need anything…” Jojo waves him off, what are friends for after all. 

“So are we telling people that we’re not really dating or…?”

“I’ll tell my mom,” Crutchie says after some consideration. “And I’ll tell Blush, but my siblings _ cannot  _ keep a secret to save their lives.”

“What about Finch?” Jojo asks, watching a blush take over Crutchie’s face. 

“What  _ about _ Finch?”

“Are you going to tell him?”

“Why would I do that?” Crutchie is playing with the hem of his shirt to avoid making eye contact with Jojo, but Jojo can tell how red is face is anyway. 

“Right, so we’re trying to make one ex-boyfriend jealous,  _ and _ one future boyfriend.”

“Mike will be there too,” Crutchie mumbles, causing Jojo’s face to turn as red as his own. 

“I have no idea what you’re trying to say.”

“Of course not,” Crutchie agrees easily. 

“Right, so,” Jojo coughs around his own embarrassment. “One ex, and two future boyfriends.”

“Here here.”

By the time Mush and Blink’s wedding comes around, Crutchie and Jojo have a plan in place. Both Crutchie and Jojo are physically affectionate people, so they’ll make sure to hold hands constantly, and when they’re standing still, Jojo will wrap an arm around Crutchie’s shoulders or waist. Many cheek kisses will be exchanged, though they both agreed that kisses on the lips would be unnecessary - it’s a wedding, the only people who need to kiss on the lips are the grooms. And if anyone asks, they’ll say that they got together a couple weeks ago when Crutchie has been watching Jojo read and had just decided to kiss him - it was close enough to the actual story that it will be easy enough for them to remember. 

When they told Medda their plan the day before the wedding, she just shook her head, but she did agree to not tell anyone. When they told Blink and Mush, Blink just shrugged, but Mush started gushing about how Jojo and Mike would finally recognize their feelings for each other, and how Crutchie and Finch would be the next ones to get married (Crutchie had blanched at that, He and Finch would need to get really serious really quickly if they ever wanted to beat Jack and Katherine to the altar, or Davey and Spot for that matter). 

They tell Crutchie’s siblings about their ‘relationship’ the morning of the wedding when the family is gathering at home, Jack is the most suspicious (seeing as how he’d heard Crutchie gush about Finch on multiple occasions), but Crutchie just mumbled something about ‘seeing what’s right in front of him’, which succeeds in getting his oldest brother off his back. Katherine has a look in her eye that makes Crutchie think that she’s on to them, but honestly he  _ trusts _ Katherine to keep her knowledge on the down low. Smalls just whispers “I knew it”, which makes Crutchie wonder is he and Jojo had entered a Jack-and-Davey situation where all his siblings think he’s in love with his best friend. Romeo declares “I ship it”, and Elmer gives Crutchie a look that almost perfectly mirrors Katherine’s, making Crutchie wonder if they’ve all be underestimating their youngest brother. Race isn’t there seeing as how he’s Mush’s best man and is helping him get ready at the venue.

“You’re not really dating Jojo.” Elmer says matter-of-factly as soon as he and Crutchie are alone in the living room.

“I’m not,” Crutchie admits easily, there’s no use lying to Elmer about this. “But don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret.”

“Why are you pretending to date him?” Crutchie thinks for a minute. On the one hand, he should tell Elmer the truth, but on the other hand, Elmer wouldn’t understand, he’s eleven.

“It’s a prank,” is the story he decides to go with. It’s truthful enough; in addition to getting Oscar off his back and making Finch and Mike jealous, it will be immensely satisfying to see the looks on his siblings faces later. “I’m pranking the others, think you can keep it a secret for me?”

Elmer considers for a moment before making his demands.

“I want twenty dollars.” He holds his hand out until Crutchie fishes his wallet out of his pocket and places a twenty on the proffered palm. Elmer gives a satisfied nod and stuffs the twenty in the pocket of his dress slacks. “Pleasure doin’ business wit’ ya, Crutch.”

Elmer runs off, and Crutchie lets out a sigh.

_ ‘Brothers’ _ he thinks to himself as he turns to head back to the kitchen, only to find himself face-to-face with Katherine.

“Do I get twenty dollars, too?” She asks, her teasing grin tells Crutchie that she’s not serious.

“If you want it,” Crutchie tell her honestly.

“No, I was thinking that for my payment that you help me plan Jack’s twenty-first birthday instead.”

“Deal,” Crutchie smiles. “But I would have helped you without the blackmail.”

Katherine hums in response. “Then buy me a coffee later when we go over plans.”

“Deal!” Crutchie holds his hand out, conscious not to spit in it like he would have if it had been any of his siblings. Katherine takes his hand, and the deal is set.

The wedding is beautiful. Mush looks wonderful in his white suit with navy blue accents, and Blink looks less like a pirate than he usually does with his navy blue suit and white accents (even his eyepatch is white). Race and Blink’s best man (a man with dark hair that Crutchie doesn’t recognize) both wear crisp white button ups with grey vests and navy ties. The chairs are laid out so that the ceremony has two aisles so that both grooms can walk in at the same time and reach the altar together. Once the two join hands, there’s little doubt in Crutchie’s mind that they won’t be letting go anytime soon.

Crutchie cries when they start reading their handwritten vows, and he’s not the only one. Jojo takes his hand in his own and gives it a squeeze. Sure, these are their first friends to get married, but they won’t be the last (especially since Crutchie knows that Jack has a ring hidden in his sock drawer).

The reception is simple. There’s very little alcohol since most of the guests are under twenty-one, but Medda’s managed to get a wine glass anyway. At one point, Oscar starts to make his way over to them, but once Jojo sees him, he pulls Crutchie even closer and glares until Oscar gets the message and walks away again. Ike, who had spent most of the ceremony glaring daggers at them, continues to do so, but Mike is being friendly enough, asking when they had gotten together, and how Jojo’s job was going, but there’s a certain look in his eye that Crutchie decides is jealousy.  _ ‘Bingo.’ _

Finch avoids them the entire time, which makes Crutchie sad. Even without his crush, Finch is one of his best friends, and they haven’t been able to see each other all summer. When he does manage to catch a glimpse of Finch, he’s talking with some redhead that Crutchie doesn’t recognize. Crutchie isn’t jealous. Nope. Not at all.

Other than the Finch thing, the only snag is right after dinner, when Race finally manages to pull himself away from Blink’s best man (who he’s been making out with basically since the ceremony ended) long enough to notice Crutchie and Jojo being all couple-y.

“What happened to Fi-“ Race starts to ask, but is cut off by Jack elbowing him sharply in the ribs. “Ow! Cristo, Jack. Fine!”

Race continues to mutter a mix of Italian and English as Jack leads him away from what would probably would have been an awkward situation if Crutchie and Jojo had actually been dating. As it was, the two were both shaking with barely suppressed laughter.

When the night finally starts to wind down (and the Delanceys finally decide to leave), Jojo gives Crutchie one last kiss on the cheek, and heads off to find Mike. 

“Get it!” Crutchie yells at his retreating back, catching the attention of all of his siblings minus Elmer (who’s playing with Les) and Race (who had mysteriously disappeared - with Blink’s best man - before even the Delanceys had, though not before Finch and his redheaded friend had), Katherine, Sarah, Davey, and Spot (all of whom might as well be his siblings at this point). 

“What?” Jack asks, shocked that Crutchie would say that  _ to his boyfriend. _

“What do you mean ‘get it’?” Smalls demands. “That’s  _ your _ boyfriend!”

“Fake boyfriend,” Crutchie corrects, rolling his eyes and grinning. He  _ has _ enjoyed messing with his siblings. 

“WHAT!?” Jack asks again, considerably louder than before. Katherine laughs, grabbing Jack’s hand and kissing his knuckles. This does nothing to soothe him. 

“What do you mean ‘fake boyfriend’! Why didn’t you tell us?” Romeo demands, pouting. 

“Cuz you’re all terrible at secrets,” Spot guesses before Crutchie can answer. Crutchie nods.

“I can’t believe you don’t trust us!” Smalls pouts. 

“I knew you still had a crush on Finch,” Jack mutters, mostly to himself. 

“Look at it this way,” Crutchie says, ignoring Jack. “Race doesn’t know, and you do.”

“Yes!” Smalls cheers. “Okay, next family dinner, when Jojo doesn’t come and Race asks about it, we say  _ nothing.” _

“Yeah! And Race will be like ‘aren’t Crutchie and Jojo dating?’ and we’ll be like ‘no man, what are you talking about?’ and he’ll be so confused!” Romeo adds, getting excited as well. 

“So did fake dating work out the way you expected it to?” Davey asks as Smalls and Romeo start planning their prank on Race. 

“Not  _ exactly _ as I expected,” Crutchie frowns, thinking about how Finch had avoided him the entire time, but then he catches sight of Jojo and Mike slow dancing on the nearly empty dance floor. “But it went pretty well.”

Jojo and Mike continue to sway around the dance floor, joined only by Mush and Blink (who haven’t left the dancefloor since dinner ended), and Elmer and Les (who are wildly swinging each other in circles as fast as they can, bumping into guests and tables along the way). 

_ ‘Yeah,’ _ Crutchie thinks as he watches Jojo and Mike kiss.  _ ‘It went pretty well.’ _

**Author's Note:**

> So Blink's best man is Graves  
I can just picture Jomike and Blush slow dancing to 'Perfect' by Ed Sheeran


End file.
